Ghost Ranch Museum

A family camps in the woods. A fisherman casts his line into the stream at "Carson Falls," while a lumberjack works in the background. These seemingly-normal outdoor scenes turn bizarre when you realize all of these people are frozen in position -- and they're only two feet tall! They're inhabitants of an exhibit on the grounds of the Ghost Ranch Museum, which was operated by the Carson National Forest as a rehabilitation facility for animals native to northern New Mexico, with exhibits about wildlife, history, geology and forest management. Since my last visit in 1982, the museum has gone through many changes; Ghost Ranch Museum became Ghost Ranch Living Museum and is now Ghost Ranch Piedra Lumbre Education and Visitor Center, operated by the Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center under permit from the Forest Service. The facility has been extensively renovated and the animals are long gone -- and probably so are these tiny people.

Directions: About 12 miles northwest of Abiquiu on Highway 84 (between mile markers 225 and 226), just north of the main Ghost Ranch entrance.

Last visited: 1982.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.